Building a Smarter MSP with Rick Harber (986)

If you’re buried in tickets, tools, and “urgent” alerts, this conversation with Rick Harber will feel like a lifeline. We unpack how he’s using automation, AI, and Liongard to triage tickets in six seconds, protect margins, and manage by exception instead of chaos. Learn how Rick’s team cut ticket triage from 10 minutes to about six seconds using automation and AI in ConnectWise. Get practical examples of “managing by exception” with dashboards and SLAs so you focus on the 5% of work that’s truly off the rails. Discover why process beats talent and how to standardize your MSP so growth doesn’t break your service delivery. Chapters 00:58 Setting the Stage: Smarter, More Profitable MSPs 03:41 Conference Updates & Fort Lauderdale Invite 03:57 NetAlly LinkRunner 1500 Update & Honest Mini‑Review 10:05 Milestone Announcement – IT Business Podcast Show #1000 11:59 Guest Intro – Rick Harber of Decision Digital 13:45 Why Liongard Matters for MSPs (Alerts, Billing, Visibility) 20:09 Real‑World Liongard Stories: Firewall & DNS “Saves” 28:37 Process Beats Talent: Growing an MSP Without Hero Techs 45:12 Where MSPs Go Wrong with Automation and AI 52:42 “Bleeding Internally” – Why AI and Automation Can’t Wait 1:00:18 Managing by Exception – Focusing on Outliers, Not Every Ticket 1:05:03 Customer Experience, SLAs, and the One Ticket That Matters 1:05:35 Florida Man Stories & Respecting Florida Wildlife 1:09:23 Closing Thoughts, How to Reach Rick, and Upcoming Events Guest: Rick Harber, Decision Digital Website: https://www.decisiondigital.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardharber Florida Man Tourists haul dead alligator across Central Florida: https://linkly.link/2g4oo Teen arrested after videos allegedly show him kicking and swinging a baby alligator: https://linkly.link/2g4op Shout-outs Michelle Accardi, Liongard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleaccardi/ Joe Alapat, Liongard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joealapat Peter Kujawa, Service Leadership / MSP industry leader: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterkujawa Matt Rainey, Podnutz Pro alum Martin Obando, Podnutz Pro alum Jared Kasner, Blacksmith Infosec: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredmcasner/ Companies / Vendors / Products Mentioned ConnectWise: https://www.connectwise.com WatchGuard (firewall referenced by name): https://www.watchguard.com HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com IT Glue: https://www.itglue.com Hudu: https://hudu.com BrightGauge: https://www.brightgauge.com N-able Empower Conference: https://empower.n-able.com/event/2026/summary MSPGeekCon: https://mspgeekcon.com ChannelPro: https://www.channelpronetwork.com ACES Conference (Apple-focused ACES event): https://acesconf.com Podnutz Pro (original show name): https://podnutz.com === SPONSORS:  Livestream Partner, ThreatLocker: https://www.itbusinesspodcast.com/threatlocker Technology Partner, NetAlly: https://www.itbusinesspodcast.com/netally/ Technology Partner: Bvoip: https://www.itbusinesspodcast.com/bvoip Travel Partner: TruGrid: https://www.itbusinesspodcast.com/trugrid Digital Partner, Designer Ready: http://itbusinesspodcast.com/designerready === SHOW MUSIC:  Item Title: Upbeat & Fun Sports Rock Logo Item URL: https://elements.envato.com/upbeat-fun-sports-rock-logo-CSR3UET Author Username: AlexanderRufire Item License Code: 7X9F52DNML === Connect with Uncle Marv🌐 Website: https://www.itbusinesspodcast.com/🎙 Host: Marvin Bee🛒 Uncle Marv’s Amazon Store (gear & tools I recommend): https://amzn.to/3EiyKoZ☕ Support the show: https://ko-fi.com/itbusinesspodcastIf you found value in this episode, share it with another MSP, IT provider, or tech entrepreneur. Your support helps keep practical, no-nonsense IT business conversations coming every week.